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Franciscans Celebrate the Peace Encounter between St. Francis and Sultan

27 July Bengaluru: Leaders across various religions assembled together for an inter-religious event on Dialogue, Peace and Harmony in St. Joseph’s Boys’ High School Auditorium, Bengaluru on 27 July, Saturday to mark the 800th anniversary of an encounter between St. Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil of Egypt. Franciscans in Bengaluru under the leadership of Br. Praveen Henry D’ Souza, Minister Provincial organized this mega event to commemorate the peace initiative of St. Francis in 1219 during the time of Crusades to propose the end of war and to encourage peace and dialogue.

The dignitaries present include the religious heads Swami Tatwarupaananda Adyaksha, Mr Giani Keval Singh, Swami Mahamunivandaru Sritha Mahagathe, Mr. Shereyar Vakil, Dr J Bhavani and Dr. Mohammed Taha Mateen. They spoke in unison to a gathering of more than 700 people calling out for peace and harmony irrespective of our differences. They highlighted the essence of the religion saying that every religion invites to promote peace and harmony. Most Rev. Dr. Peter Machado in his presidential address admired the peace initiative of St. Francis and explained how it is still relevant and meaningful for today.

The cultural programmes by students of Jyothi Nivas College, Al-Ameen School, Vaz Dramatics Academy and St. Joseph’s College brought out beautifully the theme of the celebration as well as the inter-religious peace. This gathering of peace concluded with the Peace March towards the War Memorial in Brigade Road where St. Francis’ song of peace was sung and hand-outs of peace prayer were distributed to the onlookers. Fr. Praveen speaking about the event said, "This event is a beginning of many such events in the future". He added, "As Franciscans, it is our duty to promote dialogue among various religious and become instruments of peace in the world."